New Quantnet members say hi

[Andy Nguyen]

I thought it would be reasonable to ask new members and prospective students to post here, say hi, introduce themselves to the rest of the Quantnet family.

Don't feel shy. We are a very friendly group of people and will do everything we can to make sure your visit here a pleasant experience.

 

[Zaur]

Thank you, Andy, for creating this topic!
Let me now say hi...
Hi everybody!!!
My name is Zaur, I have just joined the program and taking my first refresher course in Linear Algebra.
I graduated from Baruch this January with Finance major and two minors - math and CIS.
Work experience includes some internships in AXA, Citi, one at Merrill Lynch equity research. Now I am at AllianceBernstein working as what's called an APM (Associate Portfolio Manager).
Looking forward to start the AMF program and meeting new people.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Welcome Zaur,
Are you taking LA refresher right now? If so, i guess you are sitting on the back of the class because I'm sure I know almost everyone taking the class.
Are you officially in our program starting this Fall? If so we would have met you way before this. :D
If not, then there are still time.
Again, welcome to the family.

 

[Zaur]

Yes, I am the one sitting in the back. And I am officially in the program, almost certainly decided which classes to take.
I guess we'll have a lot of time to meet.

 

[Vimal]

Hi Everybody,

I am Vimal, a prospective candidate from India for fall 2007. Completed my Bachelor of Engineering in 2005 from National Institute of Technology Karnataka. Presently working as a software engineer :smt024 in Bangalore.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the senior members of this forum for their informative posts...
Great going guys :smt006 and hope to see u all next year :D

 

[Sankar]

This is a great forum.

Currently working for an asset managemet firm developing trading applications.
I will be taking MTH 9814 this fall. I am not a MS student yet.

Much thanks to Andy.

 

[Tom Tang]

intro

Hi my name is Tao, this is going to be my third semester in Financial math program. I am currently working for Mizuho Coporate Bank.

 

[abhinavsharma]

Hi all, this is Abhinav here from India.
I am an engineer MBA, currently working as a buy side equity research analyst. looking forward for the fall 2008 session. I hope I can make it somehow.. :smt035

 

[Jonathan]

An intro

Whats up everyone, I'm Jon. I recieved a M.S. in Electrical Engineering in January and have been job searching until recently. Eventhough I am employed as an electrical engineer, business applications are more for me. A few months ago, I didnt even know what a stock and bond was and decided to go for an MBA finance at Baruch and got accepted. Until now, Ive self educated myself in accounting, economics, finance, investments, etc. I had no idea that finance could get nasty like quantum mechanics. And I thought all my programming and PDE background was a waste, I then decided to enter the quant arena. However I didnt know about the applied math for finance degree until recently and I guess its too late. Hopefully I can read some textbooks in the cirriculum to have some exposure because I dont think the MBA finance degree will give me a good quant background. Good luck everyone and have a great week.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi guys and welcome to the Baruch MFE family,

If you are thinking of applying to the program in 2007, take advantage of this great community and learn more about the program. There is no other MFE program where you can interact directly with the alumni, current and fellow prospective students all in one place.

Even if you are not applying, this community can be a lot of fun where you can talk about programming, math, finance and anything else. We look forward to your contribution and hope you find this a welcoming place.

 

[maanas]

Prospective Student

Hi All,
I am a prospective student for Fall 2007.
I am here to gain useful tips and learn more about Baruch. I really like this program after already hearing so many great things about it.
Thanks
Maanas

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi Mannas,
If you are international student, I suggest that you apply early (Dec-Jan). This way, you can get your visa before the refresher classes start. If and when you are accepted into the program, I strongly recommend that you take all four refreshers.

 

[maanas]

hi Andy,
I am indeed international, however i am already in the US (doing undergrad)- so i am not sure if i will need a new visa.
I was also planning to visit Baruch in the fall so i could meet the exalted dean everyone is such a big fan of.
However- what kind of finance knowledge is one expected to have?
Thanks a lot.
Maanas

 

[Uncle Max]

so i could meet the exalted dean everyone is such a big fan of.

His name is Dan, and he is not a dean

 

[maanas]

sorry

Thanks for correcting me.
It is Dr. Dan Stefanica.

 

[Andy Nguyen]

hi Andy,
I am indeed international, however i am already in the US (doing undergrad)- so i am not sure if i will need a new visa.

Great, you won't need new visa, only a new I-20. You should take some time next summer to visit the programs you plan to apply

I was also planning to visit Baruch in the fall so i could meet the exalted dean everyone is such a big fan of.

When they are open again, schedule to attend an open house info session. Arrange to meet our director, Prof. Dan Stefanica before the session. You may meet some of our students and ask them questions during the information session. The link to sign up for open house info session is
http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/graduate_programs/open_house.html

However- what kind of finance knowledge is one expected to have?

Depends on your background. If you are like me, coming from CS or Math background, little finance knowledge is assumed of you. You should, however, pickup the John Hull's Options book and read it now. You may be asked what a call option is in your meeting with the director.

 

[abhinavsharma]

Hi Andy and others,
while most of the students admitted have a maths or cs backgrounds, and quite a good number are phds as well, what competitive advantage would an mba get, who has done quite a bit of finance? i see that most of the students have a predominantly maths background and very few have a finance background. do u see this trend to continue considering that more and more maths/cs grads r looking towards finance?

thanks a lot,
abhinav

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Hi Andy and others,
while most of the students admitted have a maths or cs backgrounds, and quite a good number are phds as well, what competitive advantage would an mba get, who has done quite a bit of finance? i see that most of the students have a predominantly maths background and very few have a finance background. do u see this trend to continue considering that more and more maths/cs grads r looking towards finance?

Hi Abhinav,
In my opinion, the financial engineering field is relatively new compared to MBA so it does not enjoy the popularity among finance/econ graduates that MBA programs have. If you find yourself enjoy programming and doing numerical problems, you should have no problem getting into this field. The question is how to prove that you are quantitatively capable in your application. Having a BS,MS,PhD in Math, CS, engineering or any hard-science is one way. If you have an MBA, then you should get a good quant GRE score (780-800), take some calculus level math courses, C++ programming and do well.

If you read the bios of 2006 incoming students, you will find that not everyone is coming from CS/Math background. There are quite a few students with Econ, Accounting, Law, Finance, MBA degrees and they are doing just fine.
Regards,

 

[maanas]

Undergrad

After seeing a lot of people already either with masters or tons of work experience, i would like to know if undergrads really stand a decent chance?
Is it better both academically and professionally to gain work experience before pursuing masters?

 

[Andy Nguyen]

Re: Undergrad

After seeing a lot of people already either with masters or tons of work experience, i would like to know if undergrads really stand a decent chance?

Being a competitive person, I would like to say why not. Providing you have a good undergrad record and GRE score, you can get into our program. There are several students with only a BS got accepted this year. That may or may not be the case next year. We admit the best applicants of the pool. Without knowing your profile, it's hard to make suggestions as to how to improve your chance.

Is it better both academically and professionally to gain work experience before pursuing masters?

It depends on what your career objective is. Some fields such as MBA, work experience is required before doing your master degree. Again, without knowing what you want to achieve, it's hard to answer.